


Wild Manners

by flynnaw00



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Feral Behavior, Feral Link, Feral wild, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Kinda, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), the gang meets wild
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00
Summary: Headcanon: Wild, since he lost all his memories, doesn't remember much about how to interact with people properly.The gang meets a very socially inept Wild.
Comments: 92
Kudos: 833





	1. Meeting Wild

**Author's Note:**

> tw// blood, canon typical violence and death
> 
> btw Wild speaks with less words to conserve his energy for speaking. It isn't supposed to make him look dumb and if it comes off that way, sorry! Wasn't my intention. He's very smart. (well... he's a dumbass, but a smart dumbass)
> 
> I banged this shit out in a day but it took a lot of work so please please please leave a comment or smthn telling me what u think!

They assumed that a band of eight links was enough.

Turns out, they were sorely mistaken.

Not that eight wasn’t enough, it was  _ plenty _ , but Hylia had other plans. They arrived in this very vast Hyrule about three days ago, and still hadn’t found their Hero. They were told  _ all _ about him though:

_ “Oh, Link? I remember him. Funny lad, he came into town and rode through on his horse. I don’t think he knew how dangerous that could be. He talked to me while I was planting some crops for next season's harvest and I told him about the spirit on Mount Lanayru. Next thing I know, he’s heading towards the mountain! Crazy, but he’s very nice.” _

_ “Link…? I think I know him! He shows me a ton of cool weapons all the time! I’ve always wanted to see some of the stuff my grandpa told me about: like the meteor rod! I dunno how he gets all of that stuff…” _

“Link’s a great customer. Always travelling, that kid… he’s rode up here on some weird horses-- once he tried to stable a bear! Weird kid… anyways, are you going to actually stay the night? This isn’t story time.”

“Yes, we are.” Twilight answered. “Will this be enough?” He slid the man around 8,000 Rupees, 1,000 for each. The man nodded and they moved inside, picking their beds, two at a time, and starting to get their clunky armour off.

“I feel like we’ve been travelling for  _ ages _ .” Legend complained. “Seriously, how big is this place?”

“ _ Big. _ ” Twilight said. “I hope we find this guy soon… maybe he’ll know it better than us.”

Wind agreed and yawned, laying down. “I just can’t wait to see what he looks like! I mean: we’ve heard some crazy stories!”

“I’m not impressed.” Legend said. “So what? He’s a bit weird. We  _ all _ are.”

“He rode a bear!” Wind exclaimed. “That’s super cool!”

“I could ride a  _ bear _ .” Legend scoffed. “I dunno, I guess he’s eccentric, but that’s nothing to fawn over.”

Twilight shrugged and laid down, readjusting the covers. “Well, I just hope we get out of this place. Too big.”

“We know.” Warriors said. “Mm... Goodnight, everyone.”

They all wished a ‘goodnight’ back and settled in, falling asleep easily.

\----

Only a few hours later, still in the dead of night, did screams awake them. Twilight and Warriors shot out of bed, scrambling to get their armour on while Wind rubbed his eyes, annoyed. 

“What’s going on?” He asked.

A cry from outside answered them. “HELP! HELP!!!”

Twilight grabbed his sword, deciding his armor could wait, and ran outside with most of the group: Sky, Legend, and Wind still putting on their gear. Outside, they sw a group of bokoblins, riding on the backs of horses, swinging around their spears and chasing after a middle aged man. He screamed, dashing for the stable as the bokoblins gained. Warriors nocked his arrow, aiming for the Bokoblin, when suddenly--

The Bokoblin… stopped? 

It was glowing yellow, frozen in place as the horse sped away and the man safely got into the stable. Warriors frowned and fired anyway. The arrow hit it, but the Bokoblin didn’t react.

“What the…?”

A man, covered in the cloak of night, rode up and swung at the Bokoblin, it finally being knocked out of stasis and perishing on the Earth. The man turned swiftly and headed back into the fray, swinging at more Bokoblins from on his horse.

“Why are we standing here? Let’s help him!” Time commanded, drawing his bow. The rest followed suit, since they had no horse to ride up on. They fired a barrage of arrows, hurting the Bokoblins and making it easier for the cloaked man to kill them off. Soon, the final enemy fell, releasing it’s horse back into the wild.

Time glanced up at the man, who was riding towards them. He waved. “Hello! Thank you for--”

The man rode past, not even giving Time a second thought.

Time frowned. “Hm."

Warriors was in the back of the group, comforting the man who had been chased.

“Oh, thank goodness you guys saved me.” He said. “I forgot it was a Blood Moon tonight…”

Time turned to him. “Do you have any idea who that man was? On the horse?”

“Huh?” The man looked up. “Oh, um. I believe that was… oh, what’s his name? Um…” He thought. “He’s blonde, long hair…”

A nearby woman piped up. “Long hair? That’s Link!”

“Link! Yes!” The man nodded. “That was Link.”   


Warriors eyes widened, looking back up to the group. “We have to go after him!”

“Right.” Time nodded. “Everyone, pack up, we’re tailing him. We can’t afford to lose him in this massive place.”

They all agreed and headed inside, getting ready.

\----

They ended up with four horses, two to a horse, galloping after the hero at a safe distance.

“So,” Four called. “What’re we going to do when we catch up to him?”

“What do you mean?” Warriors called.

“Well, we can’t just waltz on up and say something like _ ‘Oh, i! We were just stalking you for a few hours-- we’re heroes of courage, follow us on a dangerous quest!’.” _

Warriors bit his lip. “Shoot. I, um, didn’t plan that far.”

“We keep ourselves at a safe distance for now.” Time said. “We can introduce ourselves later.”   


“So, we’re just gonna stalk him until there’s a good time to  _ ‘coincidentally’ _ run into him?” Legend asked.

“Yes. Unless you guys have a better idea?” Time asked. Nobody did, so they kept their mouths shut.

After about ten minutes of riding, finally, the hero in front of them came to a stop in the middle of a field with a broken down house nearby. The group stopped too, watching carefully. Maybe this was a good place to engage?

The hero whipped off his cloak, but since it was dark, they still couldn’t see what he looked like. Blue light encompassed him, and his silhouette changed. He began to stalk forward, a  _ massive _ two handed sword in hand.

“How on Earth is he  _ carrying _ that thing?” Legend asked. “He’s, like, five feet tall!”

Four shrugged. “Special gloves?”

“What’s he going towards?” Sky whispered.

Just then, from the trees, they saw it. A massive centaur-like beast with a fiery red mane. Hyrule gasped. “A Lynel! Oh, man, he’s gonna die.”

“What?!” Twilight sibilated. “A- are you exaggerating?”

Hyrule shrugged. “I mean, I’ve beaten some on my own, but… it was very tough.”

Twilight’s attention was brought back to the battle as he saw the man get knocked on his ass, getting back up just in time to do a backflip away from the beast's spear. He frowned, grabbing his own sword. “Maybe we should help him…”

Warriors nodded. “Mhmm. Good way to get on his good side, too.”

“Alright, everyone.” Time said. “Let’s go.”

They drew their swords and charged forward into the battle. The hero in front of them didn’t seem to notice them and kept fighting. He dodged the Lynel’s thrusts, sidestepping out of the way before shooting it between the eyes and swinging down low, slicing into one of it’s legs. It roared in pain and got up, now with a limp. Twilight charged in and hit another one of it’s legs, then sliced down it’s side. He cast a glance towards the new hero, gauging his reaction.

The hero seemed shocked, staring at Twilight with wide eyes. Now that he was closer, Twilight could see his…  _ odd _ outfit. He had a skull on his head, and what appeared to be  _ blood _ smeared across his face in tribalistic patterns. His outfit matched, except for the pants, which were more covering. Twilight assumed it to be because of the cold. Still, though…

The Lynel roared to the heavens, and the new hero ran away. Twilight followed suit, as did the rest of the group, as the Lynel slammed down it’s sword and a fiery inferno swelled up around it. Twilight blocked the blast with his shield, but he could see some others weren’t as lucky.

“LEAVE!” The new hero shouted, voice straining. He sounded young, Twilight glanced at him. 

“No! We’re going to help you! There’s no way you can take this thing out on your own!”

The hero scowled and shoved Twilight away from the action, then shook his head. It seemed he didn’t have the gusto to speak anymore and rushed back into battle, yanking his team out of the fight one by one. They kept coming back in, including Twilight, and hacking at the beast. 

It raised up it’s hooves, trampling Time and crushing a few ribs before charging at Wind. Twilight went over to pull Time out as Wind attempted to run out of it’s charge. The new hero scooped up Wind into his arms and summoned an orange shield that cracked upon impact. He snarled at the Lynel and ran to the sidelines, tossing Wind into the forest and pointing at him aggressively, trying to communicate to him to  _ stay _ . 

Meanwhile, Warriors and Four made some good progress on the Lynel. They could see it was on its last legs (somewhat literally). The new hero spun around at the commotion and sighed, charging at the Lynel and hopping on it’s back while it was distracted. Then, letting out a fierce roar, he impaled the beast with a spear just like it’s own, blood gushing out and purple smoke beginning to crowd around him. 

The team backed up, watching as the beast fell to its knees, then vanished into clouds of malice. The hero fell to the ground, panting, and sheathed his spear on his back.

Twilight stared, glancing back at the wounded (but healing) Time before getting up to go speak with the new hero.

“Wow, you were incredible!” He complimented. Even if it was embellished, he figured he might as well try to get in the new heroes favour. “My name’s Twilight, what’s yours?”

The hero glanced at him, not answering, before walking over to the beast's remains and beginning to tap them against the slate on his hip. They turned into wisps of blue light and vanished inside.

“Um,” Twilight bit his lip, walking up to the hero again. “What is your name?”

The hero held up a finger, signalling to give him a second. He finished collecting the items then stood up, stretching out before finally answering Twilight’s question with a signed:  _ ‘L-I-N-K.’ _

“Link? Well, nice to meet you.” Twilight said. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Link shrugged.

Wind came up behind him, waving to Link. “Hi, Link! I like your, um, tattoos?”

Link blinked at him, furrowing his brows before touching his face. He chuckled and shook his head, signing that ‘ _ not tattoos. Blood’. _ He held up a hand, coated in blood.

Wind recoiled. “Oh. Uh… I dunno what you just did with your hands, but, um… I guess that’s blood, huh?”

“He signed something, Wind.” Twilight clarified, then turned to Wild. “Are you m--”

He was gone.

Twilight blinked, glancing around frantically.  _ What???  _

He saw Link, walking off towards Time. He huffed and followed him.

“Excuse me, I was speaking to you.” Twilight said. Link glanced at him, then ignored him, kneeling by Time and patting his chest, signing:  _ ‘Are you okay?’ _

Time smiled. “I’ll be fine… I’ve never fought a Lynel before.”

‘ _ You shouldn’t have. You could have died.’ _

“So could you.”

Link rolled his eyes and shoved a pink potion into Time’s hand.  _ ‘Drink.’ _

Time spun around the content, examining it, before taking a swig. He sighed contently, feeling himself heal up. “Ah, thank you… What was your name?”

Twilight knew what Time was doing. Get him comfortable, get them on a quest, get them accustomed to each other… then break the news. The last thing they needed is a repeat of what happened with himself: where he freaked out and wouldn’t talk to the first traveller (Time) for a few days.

Link rolled his eyes again and signed his name.

“Ah, Link. I’m Time.” Time said, holding out a hand. Link looked at it and frowned. He high-fived it. 

“Um.” Time stared at his hand. “Alright… Listen, Link, me and my family here are in a bit of a bind... we need to get to a village to settle down, but we have no idea where any of them are. We’ve been looking for days… would you mind helping us along to our town? If it isn’t too much trouble, that is.”

‘ _ Which one?’ _ Link asked.

“Any.” Time replied. “We just can’t keep travelling. We’re running out of supplies.”

Link nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment. Twilight smiled, knowing how this was going to go. He would say yes, they’d begin their quest, then he’d become part of the team. Just like with the rest of them. No Link could refuse such a  _ polite _ request to help a ‘family’ in need!

Link stood up, pointing SouthEast. 

‘ _ Go to Lurelin. Very pretty and lots of food. Safe travel, too. Hateno is nearby it, so if you do not like the sea, it is a good spot.’ _

“Ah, thank you.” Time said, getting up. “Shall we be on our way?”

Link tilted his head. ‘ _ O-U-R?’ _

Time nodded. “Yes… you are going to guide us there, as you just said?”

Link looked bewildered. ‘ _ No? I have stuff to do. Just follow the path that way and ask for directions at Stables. Also, avoid other travellers. They might hurt you. Bye.’ _

He left to his horse.

They stood, in stunned silence.

“Wow.” Legend huffed. “Fuckin’ rude.”

“Yeah.” Warriors crossed his arms. “Seriously?”

“Now, now, maybe he’s really just busy.” Time said. “Um… we’ll figure something out.”

“We better do it soon.” Wind said. “He’s leaving.”

Sure enough, Link was getting on his horse.

“Uh--” Sky stammered. “Wait!” He called out, running up to the horse. Link looked down at him. 

“Please?” Sky pleaded. “It’s very, um, dangerous out here and--”

“Be fine.” Link said, clipped. “Just killed Lynel. You good.”

He rode off.

Sky gaped. “... Wow. Yeah, he’s rude.”

“How are we going to convince him to help us?” Four said, exasperated.

“Maybe we should just tell him outright that we’re also Heroes of Courage and he  _ needs _ to come along because Hylia said so?” Legend asked curtly.

“Maybe.” Time pondered. “...”

“Should we keep following him?” Wind asked.

“It’s either that or go to the town he suggested.” Twilight said. “We  _ are  _ running low on supplies.”

“What?” Warriors asked. “He didn’t say anything! He just made hand signals at Time then ran off?”

“He was signing.” Time replied. “He told us to go to ‘Lurelin’. Said it was very pretty, and close to ‘Hateno’ if we didn’t like the sea.”

“I love the sea!” Wind chimed in. “Yeah, let’s go to Lurelin!”

“No!” Legend retorted. “We need to keep a close eye on him! We can’t  _ lose _ him  _ again _ . This place is massive, and who knows when we’re gonna run into him again?”

“That’s true.” Time said. “Okay, let’s follow him. I’m sure he’ll come around at some point…”

“Can we sleep first?” Asked Four.

Time frowned. “I wish we could, but  _ he _ isn’t. Let’s go, no time to waste.”

The group begrudgingly got on their horses and rode off. 

They trailed the hero until he stopped to rest at about 4 am. He got off his horse, glanced around quickly, squinted at the group (who ducked down to make it look like it was just a herd), then just laid down in the grass and passed out. The others did the same, but in more secure locations and near each other. Sadly, they could not light a fire as it would alert Link that they were trailing them. Twilight felt uncomfortable stalking someone, but if it was for the betterment of all Hyrules, then he supposed it was okay just this once.

\----

Later that day, Link arrived at another stable and ran off to the hills. They took this opportunity to enter the stable as well, resting for a while whilst waiting for Link to get back.

“This guy has a  _ horrible _ sleep schedule.” Warriors complained. “Seriously, I-- ugh. This sucks. Why couldn’t he have just  _ agreed _ ?”

Time shrugged. “We don’t know, but we have to be patient. We can’t force this on him.”

“I say we just tell him!” Legend said.

“No!” Twilight countered. “Remember what happened with me?”

“I wasn’t  _ there _ .”

“I freaked out! Wouldn’t talk to Time for a _ week _ . And this guy is already stand-offish, maybe he’ll avoid all of us for much longer.”

Legend rolled his eyes.

“Well, what are we doing when he gets back?” Four asked. “We can’t just tell him we stalked him.”

“We tell him we’re very lost, scared, and tired.” Legend said. “Pitiable, I guess. Then he’ll help us.”

“Hope so.” Four said. 

Time looked up. “Ah, here he is now.”

They all glanced towards the hill they were nearby, and saw Link on top of it. He did a flip and began to slide down the hill on his shield, hopping up and skidding into the stable.

“DON’T SCRATCH THE FLOORS!” The owner scolded. Link hunched up, his entire face turning red as he picked up the shield and nodded in embarrassment. He exited the stable and then caught sight of the group, stunned. 

“Ah, it’s you again!” Time greeted. “Hello, there.”

Link waved, a bit weirded out.

“Oh, you  _ have _ to help us.” Wind pleaded, jumping right into it. “We got lost, and, and we didn’t know where to go-- we couldn’t eat last night and we still can’t restock because there’s no food being sold here!”

“The little one can’t take much more.” Warriors teased lightly, putting his hands on Wind’s shoulders. Link scowled at him for a moment before returning to giving Link a pleading, puppy dog eyed, face.

Link groaned and dragged a hand down his face-- which Twilight just noticed was  _ heavily _ scarred. Wonder how he got that…

_ ‘How did you get lost? Just follow the TRAIL. Follow this one! Any of them! _

Warriors and Wind frowned, not understanding.

“I’m sorry, not all of us know sign.” Time said politely. “We could, but we would not have anything to keep ourselves fed--”

“‘Not know how to  _ hunt _ ?” Link barked out, his frustration giving him some energy to speak. 

“Not at all!” Legend said. “We were… um… very sheltered.”

Twilight sighed. He hated that they had to do this much  _ lying _ …

Link whined and signed again: ‘ _ Listen, I’m busy, okay?’  _

“Do you mind if I translate for you?” Time asked. “So the rest of the group can understand.”

Link shrugged. Time then translated what he said to them.

“With what?” Legend retorted.

Link shrugged.  _ ‘Stuff!’ _

“Stuff?” Legend scrutinized, raising an eyebrow. “Which stuff?”

Link groaned and stomped the ground.  _ ‘I’ll help you hunt, but that is it. I can’t just lead you wherever you need to go. You took down a LYNEL, you can do things!’ _

“Fuck!” Link tacked on at the end, going up the hill, not really waiting for them. They followed him in a rush. 

“Grumpy, isn’t he?” Warriors said. 

“Yeah.” Legend commented. “Jeez.”

Once up the hill, Link led them into a forest. He turned to them, not making eye contact, and got out a bow.

“Who has… a bow?” He said, struggling to speak.

They all did.

Link nodded. “... Um.” He glanced around, trying to spot any animals. “When… you see… animal--”

He froze and gasped, tucking away his bow and sprinting off.

“Wha--” Twilight stammered. “Link???” 

The group chased after him. He didn’t seem to slow down, just leaping and sprinting like a deer over logs and rocks until he got to a tall rock in the middle of the forest. He beamed and began to climb it.

“What are… you… doing!?” Twilight called, panting.

Wild barely acknowledged him, climbing to the top and turning East. He began to fire arrows into the air, aiming at seemingly nothing.

“What the hell?” Warriors asked. “What’s he doing?”

“Don’t tell me the newest Heros’ a  _ nutjob… _ ” Legend groaned.

“He’s shooting the balloons, duh.” Wind answered. “Though, he-- I dunno why we had to  _ run _ here for that…”

“Balloons? Where are the--” Sky cut himself off, heaving out a sigh. “Huh?”

“Right there?” Wind pointed. They didn’t see anything.

“Ah… I see them.” Time said.

“You do?” Legend asked.

“Mhmm… I have no idea why  _ you _ can’t, however.”

The final balloon popped and a Korok appeared, giving Wild a seed. To the other’s, it looked like Wild was reaching out for nothing. Wind and Time both perked up. 

“A korok?” Time asked.

“A korok!” Wind exclaimed happily.

Wild glanced back at them, confused, then hopped down. 

‘ _ You see them?’ _ He asked Time.

Time nodded. “Yes. I do.”

Wild nodded slowly. “Huh.”  _ ‘How? I thought nobody could see them.’ _

Time shrugged. “Many people can. But only pure of heart, I believe.”

Wild oohed.

“Wh-- am I not pure of heart?” Sky asked. “Aw…”

Time chuckled. “But, maybe I am wrong. Maybe it’s because me and Wind have seen them before.”

“Or maybe you’re right and Sky isn’t as sweet as we thought he was.” Legend teased.

The group laughed. Time turned back to Wild, then paled. “Wh--”   


He was gone.

“Link!?” Time called, glancing around. 

“There!” Hyrule called out, pointing to Link, who was exiting the woods. They caught up to him.

“Why did you run off?” Hyrule asked.

Link turned and stared at them, before shrugging. “Bored.”

“B--” Legend blanked. “Y-- we were--  _ you were teaching us how to hunt _ !”

“Ah.” Link nodded. ‘ _ Yes. _ ’.

He walked back into the woods.

Twilight sighed. “ _ He’s _ a handful…”

“Be nice.” Time said. “We don’t know his reasons.”

They were all back in the same spot, bows drawn again. Link struggled to instruct them. Although he wasn’t  _ completely _ not into talking right now, he wasn’t completely in, either. He found himself in an odd middleground. Plus, he couldn't sign when holding a bow.

“Find animal.” He said, using his clipped language to conserve words/energy. 

They glanced around, and Wind smiled. “I see one!” He pointed to a fox.

“Good.” Link said, crouching down and beginning to sneak behind the fox. The other’s played along at learning how to hunt, while Wind and Sky were actually learning. Twilight felt bad hurting an innocent creature.

The fox dashed into a bush and Link dashed too, leaving the others behind. Before they could follow, Link got up and presented a dead fox to the group.

“Food.” He stated, plopping it in Sky’s hands. Sky winced and gave Link an uneasy, forced, smile, then handed the kill off to Twilight.

“Wh… you didn’t even teach me!” Wind protested. Link rolled his eyes. 

“Easy. Find animal. Then shoot.”

“Isn’t there more to it than that?” Wind asked.

Link threw his arms up in the air and scoffed, making an ‘I don’t know’ noise. He grabbed his Sheikah Slate and grabbed about 10 giant steaks, tossing them into Twilight’s hands. Twilight groaned under the weight, and Four helped him hold it up.

‘ _ There.’  _ Link signed.  _ ‘Food for travelling to Lurelin. Happy now?’ _

Time frowned. “Now, hold on there, we still don’t know the way--"

“AUGH!” Link cried, pointing aggressively at the road. “FOLLOW ROAD. EASY.”

“It’s not!” Warriors protested. “You know, you’re being quite rude.”

Wild stared at him. “... Wha-- how?”

“Well, you leave us behind every chance you get, you dump stuff on people without asking, you’re not making eye contact, and you’re not a very good communicator.” Warriors said.

“Hey, hey…” Time said, trying to placate the situation. “I’m sure he has his reasons-- I’m sorry, Link, we’re very tire--”

In the middle of Time’s sentence, Link walked off.

“I was speaking to you!” Time called, offended. Wild didn’t respond, instead shield surfing down to the stable again.

“Okay, now we tell him.” Legend said. “I don’t care if he avoids us now, because he  _ already _ is!”

He ran down the hill. The others followed while Twilight stuffed the meat into his bag. Wild was on his horse, waiting for them.

“I have something to tell you!” Legend shouted at him. Wild glared and spoke over him, cutting him off.

“Follow me. No complaining, no talking. I take you to Lurelin. Then, you shut up and  _ stay _ .”

Legend stared at him, taken aback. “..."

“Oh.” Legend said, calming down. “Um. Thank you.”

“Yes, thank you.” Time said. “You’re very generous.”

Link groaned. ‘ _ Get on or I’m leaving without you.’ _

“Ah.” Time said. “Alright. Everyone, get on, quickly.”

They all got on their horses, two at a time, and as soon as the last one began to get on his horse, Link took off, leaving them in the dust. They immediately began to gallop after him.


	2. Start and Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flowers, Yiga, and Dragons.

Link kept them straight on their path for about ten minutes before he stopped abruptly,  _ backflipping _ off his horse and then running off to a circle of stones. The rest of the group stopped too, struggling not to crash into each other.

Twilight stared at Link, watching him as he held the Sheikah Slate up to his face, glancing around. Twilight cleared his throat.

“Why are we stopped?”

Link jolted, staring at him, as if he forgot he was there, and pointed to the circle. 

‘ _ Korok Circle!’ _

“Ah.” Twilight hummed. “Okay, then…”

“What’d he say?” Wind asked.

“Korok Circle.” Twilight replied.

“Ohh!” Wind nodded. “I’ve never seen one before…”

Link was now carrying a large rock over his head, coming to the edge of the circle and chucking it into the center. Twilight saw nothing, but Wind and Time saw a Korok appear, giving him a seed.

“Are Korok seeds that important?” Legend asked. “We almost crashed into you, you know.”

Link looked up at him. ‘ _ How? Just stop your horse.’  _ Time translated for him.

Legend scoffed. “We did. But horses can’t just stop on a green rupee!”

Link shrugged.  _ ‘Then hop off. _ ’

“We have people on the horse!” Legend said.

Link rolled his eyes and started to walk back to his horse, almost getting there before a bird caught his eye. He beamed and ran off, snapping a picture of it and then shooting it. Twilight whimpered. “Oh…”

Link put the dead bird carcass in the slate and then made it back to his horse. He got on before he saw something  _ else _ and got off again to run off to a patch of Silent Princesses.

Legend groaned, burying his head in his hands. “I swear to god--”

“Hey, calm down.” Warriors said. “We’re here to  _ accompany _ him, remember? The more time we spend with him, the more inclined he is to join us! Just… let him do his thing! Or, oh, actually, maybe we should join?”

Sky smiled. “I like that idea!”

He hopped off his horse and came up to Link, who was laid down in the patch of Silent Princesses, taking photos. “Hi, Link! What’re you doing?”

Link looked up and signed something Sky couldn’t understand. Sky frowned. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know sign… maybe you can teach me some time!”

Link thought. “...” He nodded and got up. “Watch.” He said, beginning to fingerspell, announcing the letters as he did so. 

“S-I-L-E-N-T-P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S”

Sky watched his hands carefully and nodded. “Okay… Okay. So, these are called, um.” He tried to fingerspell like Link did. Link helped him rearrange his fingers into the correct forms as he did. Eventually, he fingerspelled the whole thing. “Silent Princesses?”

Link nodded, then turned the slate around, showing Sky the picture.

“Oh!” Sky gasped. “It’s a pictograph!”

Link tilted his head, then shook it, signing  _ ‘P-I-C-T-U-R-E’. _

“Oh? Um, hold on, uh… I think I recognized some of those…” Sky mumbled.

Back on the horses, Legend sighed. “Okay, then, I guess we’re taking a break. Ten minutes from the stable.”

“This is about quality time.” Warriors reminded again, getting off his horse. Legend followed suit and soon the rest of the group was off. Twilight fed their horse and patted her while Time watched Sky, Wind, and Link all interact in the flower patch.

“He’s an eccentric one, isn’t he?” Time commented to Twilight.

Twilight chuckled. “Sure is. Good fighter, though.”   


“And he seems to be no-nonsense.” Four chimed in. “I like that.”

“No nonsense?” Hyrule asked, coming down from his horse. 

“If he wants to tell you something, he’ll tell you straight up.” Four clarified. “Or, well, sign. I dunno-- I got that feeling from him.”

Time smiled. “Well, considering when Sky was asking him to join us he just said _ ‘You’re good’ _ and ran off, I’d have to agree with you.”

They all laughed.

“Hey, Time!” Wind called. “Can you translate Link for me? He’s tired of teaching me and I can’t understand him!”

Time sighed, then called back that he’d be right there. He turned to the group. “Some of you please make sure nobody comes up and decides to cause trouble, okay?”

Warriors, who was listening in, nodded and gave a subtle salute. Four also agreed, and Twilight as well. Hyrule was heading over to Link. Time followed.

In the flower patch, Wild was showing them some pictures he had taken. Only a select few, though. 

“Whoa! That’s a MASSIVE sword!” Wind said. 

Sky leaned over and gasped. “Oh, my!”

Link chuckled and set down the slate, beginning to sign. He spotted Time and smiled, turning more towards him so he could translate. Time did so.

_ ‘I was in G-E-R-U-D-O-H-I-G-H-L-A-N-D-S looking for S-H-R-I-N-E-S and treasure when I saw this giant sword! It belonged to the long lost 8th Gerudo Warrior statue! Here.’ _

He showed the group a picture of a circle of massive statues, all holding swords, with little orbs at their feet. Time gasped. “This is beautiful…”

Link smiled and thanked him before continuing.

_ ‘I don’t recall why the other one was hidden in the Gerudo Highlands, but I found her without her sword. Here. I have a picture of the statue.’ _

He showed them the statue, similar to the others, but covered in shadows and snow. Instead of from a bird’s eye view, it was from the ground, which made her look looming and imposing.

“Whoa…” Hyrule murmured. 

_ ‘And right next to the sword was a Lynel.’ _ Link laughed.  _ ‘I ran as fast as I could!’ _

Hyrule smiled. “But I thought you could easily beat a Lynel?”

Link waved him off.  _ ‘Now I can. Before, I was too weak. Now, when Lynel’s hit me, I just get right back up! Or run really fast.’ _

Hyrule chuckled. “Y’know, I’ve fought some Lynels before. They looked different from those, though, mine were more like cubs compared to yours. Um, oh! This one time, I was cornered by about three of ‘em, okay? So…”

Hyrule trailed off, looking down at Link, who was examining a Silent Princess he plucked. Link frowned and glanced over at Hyrule.

“Do you not want to hear my story?” Hyrule asked.

Link looked surprised and shook his head, then motioned for him to continue.

“Ah, okay, sorry.” Hyrule chuckled. “You just didn’t look all that interested… um… Okay, so, I was cornered by about three of them, and all I had was a sword and shield. No arrows. And I couldn’t run, either, so…”

Hyrule frowned. Link had slowly turned back to his flower while Hyrule spoke. Link frowned and looked up at him again in confusion.

“Um. Listen, if you really don’t want to hear it, I understand?” Hyrule asked. “But, if you do, can you please pay attention?”

Link gave him a bewildered and offended look. ‘ _ I was paying attention! I still am! I wanna know how you got out!’ _

“Well, you were just looking at your flower, I couldn’t tell.”

‘ _ I…’  _ Link glanced down at his flower. “...” ‘ _ I can do both.’ _

Time hummed, placing a gentle hand on Link’s shoulder. Link flinched away from his touch. Time chose not to take offense and took his hand off. 

“Link, it’s polite to look at others when they’re speaking to you.” He said. “Now, I'm sure you knew this, but just in case… I’m reminding you.”

Link frowned.  _ ‘What? Why?’ _

Time blinked. Oh, he really didn’t know. “Ah, well… it shows you’re paying attention.”

_ ‘I am paying attention.’ _ Link retorted. He glanced around, just now realizing he was being looked at from all sides and scooted out of the circle, closer to Hyrule. He fidgeted and looked up at Hyrule, but not at his eyes.  _ ‘Tell me the story now, please?’ _

“Ah, okay…” Hyrule said. “So, the first one fires an arrow at me, and I duck, then I run forward, using my sword to launch me higher in the air and I land on the first one’s back! I ride him around, using his mane to, kinda, like, steer him? And then  _ plow _ right into the other two Lynels! Then I, um,”

Link was watching a ladybug crawl across a Silent Princess. Hyrule sighed and decided to just keep going.

“I rode him for a good ten minutes through the field, and all the monsters just kept running from me until he bucked me off, then, I killed him and stole his bow and arrows.”

Link chuckled and clapped, proving he had been paying attention, and slipped the Silent Princess he had been holding into Hyrule’s hair as a gift. Hyrule blushed, glancing up at the flower and smiling. “Oh, um, thank you, Link.”

Link smiled and gave him a thumbs up, then got up and stretched out, looking around for something else to do.

“Oh! I’m gonna make a flower crown.” Wind said, beginning to pluck many Silent Princesses. 

Link gasped and ran over, smacking his hands away from the flower bed and signing at him aggressively. Wind frowned, glancing at Time for help. Time got up and gently turned Link to him.

“Link, what’s wrong?” Time asked.

Link huffed. ‘ _ He can’t pluck that many!!! They’re endangered! I only plucked one! You can’t do that many!’ _

Time nodded and relayed this information to Wind. Wind huffed. “But it’s fine… who cares about a few flowers?”

Wild snarled at him, a bit animalistically, and signed: ‘ _ I do! And the princess does! This was her favourite flower! Don’t disrespect it!’ _

Wind frowned. “... Okay…”

Link knelt down, gathering up the already picked Silent Princesses and placing them in Wind’s lap.  _ ‘You can use the ones you already picked, though… sadly, we can’t just replant them.’ _

“M’kay.” Wind said, beginning to tie them together to make four flower rings. 

Link sighed in relief and went back to looking at his Sheikah Slate. It was quiet for a while as Link went through his compendium and pondered what he could take photos of. He glanced towards the woods, double checking his creatures tab, and finding that he was missing a bear. He stood up and went to go immediately, not thinking of the others.

“What are you doing?” Sky asked. Link glanced back and signed:  _ ‘I need a photo of a bear. _ ’ Time translated for him.

“Why’s that?” Sky asked again.

Link thought. “Mm…” ‘ _ I need it because I want to complete this.’ _

He kneeled down by Sky and showed him the Compendium. Sky ‘ooh’ed and nodded. “Ah, I see… so you’re taking photos of everything in Hyrule to learn more about them?”

Link nodded.

“Can I come with?” Wind asked.

“Me too.” Hyrule said.

Link thought it over, then nodded. ‘ _ Okay. But be quiet! And sneaky.’ _

“Okay.” Wind whispered playfully. Hyrule got up to join Link and Wind passed out his flower rings before catching up to him. Link smiled and crouched down by a tree, getting out his sheikah slate. Suddenly, blue light enveloped his form, causing the two other heroes to shield their eyes until they could look again and Link was in his Sheikah outfit. 

“Whoa, you can just change clothes magically???” Wind asked.

Link nodded, then brought out two purple potions, handing one to each member. Hyrule sniffed it and sneered. “Yuck. I’m guessing this is a stealth elixir?” 

Link nodded again. Hyrule pinched his nose and downed it, while Wind just muscled through it and gulped it down. Link chuckled and began to crawl into the underbrush, keeping an eye out for any bugs or creatures. Hyrule and Wind followed suit.

After a while, Wind got bored and finally asked: “Soooo, why are we sneaking if all we’re doing is looking for a bear? Bears are huge. You can easily snap a pictograph of one.”

Link sighed and signed: ‘ _ I need pictures of beetles, and a grasshopper, too’ _

“I don’t know what you said.” Wind frowned. 

“I think he said something about needing… bugs?” Hyrule guessed. Link gave him a surprised look. Hyrule chuckled. “I know a bit of sign, but I’m not fluent.” 

Link nodded and spelled out  _ ‘Beetles’ _ and  _ ‘Grasshopper’ _ for him, which Hyrule understood and relayed to Wind. Wind nodded. “Ah… okay! I’ll keep an eye out!” 

They crawled around, looking for beetles and bugs and birds for a while before Hyrule gasped and whispered that he found a Golden Beetle, pointing up at a tree. Link beamed and leaned back on his haunches, tilting the slate up to get a good picture of the beetle. The others were silent as he did this, not wanting to ruin the picture.

Link’s finger hovered over the shutter, about to take the perfect photo, before a loud  _ poof _ and ' _ YAHAHAHA!'  _ Rang throughout the forest, scaring the beetle away. Link cried out, trying to capture it, but it was too late.

_ “WHAT THE FUCK!?”  _ Link screamed. _ “Who--”” _

Two arrows fired into his back, making him stumble. He looked behind him and saw a Yiga footsoldier, landing and readying his bow again. Link grit his teeth and snarled, unsheathing a massive Royal Claymore and running up to the Yiga, slashing wildly and knocking him into a tree. He grabbed the front of the Yiga’s outfit and yanked him up to his face.

“Hey! Let me go!” The Yiga protested, getting out his Demon Carver. Link snarled and pinned down his wrist, flicking up his mask so he could get real close.

**_“FUCK._ ** **_OFF.”_ ** Link growled. 

He grabbed the Demon Carver from the Yiga’s hand, then plunged it into the Yiga’s side, making him shriek and vanish.

Wind and Hyrule stared as Link slowly calmed down, thumping his head against the tree trunk and groaning. 

“I… haven’t gotten that angry… in a  _ while _ .”

“Who… was that?” Hyrule asked. Link glanced up and sighed, signing. 

‘ _ A member of the Yiga Clan. Normally, I’d just shoot them until they went home, but this one… this one pissed me off. I’m so sorry I yelled like that, I just…’ _

He groaned and sat down.

‘ _ So annoying.’ _

Hyrule nodded slowly. “Okay… What I got from that is that their name is… Yiga? And you are mad because they’re annoying?”

Link shrugged.  _ ‘Kinda.’ _

Hyrule chuckled and sat beside him. “I’m sure I’ll get more fluent, don’t worry.”

Wind sat beside him, too. “Sorry you didn’t get your beetle.”

Link shrugged. Hyrule patted his back comfortingly. 

“We’ll find another one.”

Time’s voice called through the woods. “Hey! Is everything okay in there? I heard yelling!”

“Some guy showed up and Link killed him!” Wind yelled back. Link’s eyes widened and he shook his head.  _ ‘No! No! No killing! Just get sent home!’ _

Wind tilted his head. “Um, he didn’t kill him?” He called.

“Just come out here!” Time called. 

Link groaned. Hyrule patted his back in sympathy again. “It’ll be alright. There’s always tomorrow!”

Link shrugged, unsure, and got up, heading back to Time and the others with Hyrule and Wind behind him. When they got back, Time glanced over them. 

“Hm. Are you hurt?”

Wild turned around, showing him the arrows sticking out of his back. Time flinched. “Oh. Let me help you.”

He hesitated, waiting for Wild’s permission before going ahead and yanking them out. Wild drank some of his health potion as he did, closing up the wounds. He sighed and thanked Time.

“Did you get the bear?” Sky asked.

Wild shook his head, sighing. ‘ _ No. Stupid Yiga came out of nowhere and scared off something we wanted.’ _

Sky tilted his head. “Oh… what’s a Yiga?”

_ ‘The Yiga Clan serve Ganon, they seek to kill me. But they’re honestly just annoying.’ _

Hyrule frowned at the actual translation, provided by Time. “Mm... That’s rough.”

Wild shrugged. 

“Maybe we should make camp.” Twilight suggested. “It’ll be night soon, and this seems like a good spot.”

Wild furrowed his brows, checking his Sheikah Slate.  _ ‘It’s only 9 PM?’ _

Twilight furrowed his brows back. “Yes, I know.”

_ ‘Why don’t we just keep going until it’s actually night time?’ _

“Because then we might be in a less safe area.” Twilight said.

Wild sighed, mumbling something to himself and turning back to the woods. ‘ _ Okay. I’m gonna keep searching for bugs. Bye.’ _

“Good luck!” Twilight called. Hyrule followed Wild into the woods.

Wild glanced back at Hyrule, surprised he was following, but didn’t speak up until they were out of sight of the others.

_ ‘Why are you following me?’ _ He asked. 

Hyrule blinked. “Ah, um, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get hurt again.”

Link tilted his head.  _ ‘Why…?’ _

“Um.” Hyrule narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Because I care about you? Duh.”

Link flushed. ‘ _ Why?’ _

Hyrule shrugged. “Why not?”

Link considered this for a moment before nodding. ‘ _ I think I care about you, too. I mean, not extremely. I don’t know you that well. But if you were hurt, i would protect you.’ _

Hyrule squinted at the signs, deciphering most of the message and nodding. “Ah, thank you, Link. I feel the same.”

Link nodded and walked further into the woods with him.

\----

Back at camp, the group had just finished setting up everyone’s bags (thank goodness they bought an extra) and were now trying to figure out what to cook for dinner.

“Well, do we even need to cook? Link gave us a ton of steak.” Wind said.

“True.” Legend agreed. “We could just have steak? It’s better than the shit we normally cook.”   


“I dunno if  _ just _ steak is enough for a meal.” Warriors said. “Maybe some vegetables? Uh, f-fruit?”

“Wow, what  _ other _ food groups do you know?” Legend snarked. Warriors rolled his eyes playfully. 

“Where are we going to  _ get  _ ingredients?” Twilight brought up. “I don’t exactly see any laying around.”

“We could look in the woods.” Four suggested.

“Good idea.” Warriors said, getting up. “Wind, you should come with me.”

Wind rolled his eyes. “‘Cause I’m the  _ youngest _ and I apparently can’t  _ defend _ myself?”

“No, ‘cause you’re small enough to see things I don’t.” Warriors teased. Wind huffed and pushed him playfully. “Four is also small!”

“Hey!” Four objected. Time chuckled. 

“I’m coming, too.” Twi said. Warriors shrugged and let him come, too. 

\----

“Wow… It’s so peaceful out here.” Hyrule said. 

Link nodded.

They had been searching for bugs for a long while, and had caught a good picture of the Golden Beetle and a picture of a bear! Only missing the grasshopper, but as Hyrule said, there was always tomorrow. Now, the stars had come out, and they were sitting on the cliff’s edge, looking out on Hyrule.

Link checked his Sheikah Slate and smiled, setting his sights on the Bridge of Hylia. Hyrule glanced over, noticing this. He tilted his head and followed Link’s gaze. Link realized where his eyes were and glanced at Hyrule. 

“... You’ve seen the dragon… too?” He asked. “I like him.”

Hyrule furrowed his brows. “Hm? Dragon? Um, no. I don’t think so. I was just looking where you were.”

“Ah.” Link said. “He will come soon, so, watch the bridge, okay?”

Hyrule nodded, looking back. 

Just then, as if on cue, Farosh began to arise from the lake, the wind around the two heroes picking up just slightly. Hyrule gasped, eyes sparkling as he watched the glorious dragon swim through the air. Balls of electricity, floating gently down, spawned from it’s glowing green scales. 

“Wow…” Hyrule murmured.

Link glanced at Hyrule, looking at his face now instead of the dragon. He watched as Hyrule’s eyes sparkled, then dimmed, as Farosh swam across the sky languidly, body moving in a mesmerizing fashion before he flew all the way up to the sky and vanished. Hyrule’s eyes met his and he smiled.

“That was beautiful.”

Link flushed. “... Yes.”

Hyrule chuckled. “But you’ve probably seen it a lot before, haven’t you?”

Link nodded, pausing for a moment before speaking again. “But I have never… shown someone before. I like… this.”

Hyrule tilted his head. “This?”

“Showing you.” Link elaborated. “... T-this might be weird to say, but I am alone. A lot. So being around people is… odd for me. A-and fascinating. But, I like it? Sometimes? I’ve never really been with someone for as long as I have all of you, though…”

Hyrule smiled warmly. “I’m happy to be your friend, too, Link.”

Link’s eyes widened. “We're friends?"

“Mhmm.”   


Link nodded slowly. “... I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you do.”

Hyrule reached up and felt the Silent Princess, still in his hair, and then glanced around. He saw a blue nightshade, taking one of it’s buds and putting it in Link’s hair. Link gasped and stared at him, eyes sparkling. Hyrule found it endearing.

Link glanced back at the view, overwhelmed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Hyrule said, looking out, too.

For a few moments, they just watched the world go by. They heard the crickets chirping, the night air swaying the grass beneath them, and the wonderful sounds of a campfire being lit a way’s back. Then, they heard footsteps approaching them.

“Hyrule? Link?” Warriors called curiously. Hyrule and Link both turned. Warriors glanced over them, seeing the flowers in their hair, and giving them a small smile. “It’s time for dinner, okay?”

“Okay.” Hyrule said, getting up and heading back. Link followed suit. 

Once they arrived at the camp, Warriors, Wind, and Twi plopped down a multitude of mushrooms and flowers. 

“Okay, great.” Four said, looking over the mushrooms. “Now… how do we… cook it?”

“Just put it over the fire, I would guess.” Legend said. Four nodded and skewered the mushroom, setting it over the flame. Link watched, at first relaxed, then slowly growing concerned as Four did not turn the skewer or add more mushrooms. He grabbed it, and took control.

“Hey!” Four protested. Link shushed him and stuck some meat and fruit on the skewer, taking off the roasted Razorshroom and eating it while he put the other skewer on the fire. He began to make more.

“By the Goddesses, do you actually know how to cook?” Legend gasped.

Link nodded. 

“Yes!” Wind cheered. “We finally have a cook!”

“Rejoice!” Legend said, raising his glass of water like a toast. A few others joined in on the mock toast and drank. Link chuckled and blushed, turning over the skewers.

It was a nice night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Can't stop on a green rupee" = "Can't stop on a dime"
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	3. Friends: New and Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Link remembers friendship

In the morning, they packed up and resumed their journey. Link stopped _very_ often to take pictures of things, solve Korok puzzles, or just check something out and stamp it for later. A few members of the group were incredibly annoyed by this, but were reminded that this was about the _journey_ , not the destination. 

On one particular stop, Link got _very_ excited and leapt off his horse again, racing up a hill. The others groaned, waiting.

“Where’s he even _going_ this time?” Legend complained. 

“Hey, Link!” Twilight called out. “Where are you going now?”

Link glanced back, grinning. “SHRINE!!!”

“Shrine?” Twilight furrowed his brows. “I’ve never heard of those…”

“WHAT’S A SHRINE???” Wind called. 

Link thought for a moment before just pointing to the other side of the hill.

“WE CAN’T SEE IT.” Legend called.

“Oh.” Link said. “... COME HERE!”

Legend shrugged and got off his horse. “Better than sitting all day.”

The rest of the group also figured they should go, and followed the excited Link up the hill. Once they came over it, they saw a Shrine, partly covered in greenery, glowing orange.

“Whoa.” Sky gasped. “Cool…”

“Cool?” Legend repeated skeptically. “I guess…”

Link used his paraglider to float down to the platform and then gestured towards the shrine, showing it off. 

“So, what does it do?” Legend asked.

Link thought for a moment, then gestured for them to come over. Then, he laid his Sheikah Slate on the pedestal, opening up the iron gates and revealing the now blue platform. 

“Oh! A… small room?” Wind tilted his head.

Link facepalmed. ‘ _When you get on it, you go underground to a cool room that gives you treasure and stuff.’_

“Treasure?” Legend perked up. “I’m in! Can I go?”

Link shrugged and nodded, gesturing inside for them to go in. The group filed inside, having nothing else to do. Only about four members were able to squeeze onto the small lift. Wild held up a hand to the rest and stepped on the platform, it being activated by him and sending them down.

When they reached the bottom, they were greeted with a sight like no other they’d seen. The inside of the shrine glowed bright blue, with sleek black walls with small glowing dots embedded in them. In front of them was a staircase that led upwards with a sign on it, and to their left and right were many holes with poles on the sides.

“Whoa…” Wind gasped. “It’s so pretty!”

“Huh.” Legend hummed. “Where’s the treasure?”

“I dunno.” Sky said, walking up the stairs and reading the sign. “Hm… It appears this is some sort of puzzle. Link, do you--”

Link was gone.

“Typical.” Legend huffed. 

“Hey, now, maybe he’s going back up to fetch the others.” Warriors said. 

As if on cue, Wild was lowered down on the lift with the rest of the group. They all stepped off, taking it in.

“Hm…” Time hummed. “... Is this like a dungeon?”

Link tilted his head. ‘ _Dungeon? No, this is a shrine.’_

“Well, yes, I know it’s a shrine, but is it _similar_ to a dungeon?”

“Appears so.” Twilight said. “Cool.”

Link stared at them in confusion before shrugging and walking up to the sign that Sky read. He read it too and then looked up at the far wall with constellations on it. “Hmm…”

“So, this is basically just a puzzle?” Hyrule asked, jogging up to the platform to also look at the constellations. 

Link nodded, then pointed at the wall, mumbling to himself and counting.

Hyrule tried to follow his gaze to see if he could get the puzzle.

“I dunno why you were excited if it’s just a puzzle.” Four said.

“Because there’s treasure.” Legend answered. “Right, Link?”

Link nodded, hopping down from the platform and beginning to rearrange the balls.

“Oh, did you get it already?” Sky asked. “You’re very clever, Link!”

Link blushed and stared up at him. “...” He smiled and signed a quick _thank you_ before resuming solving the puzzle.

“Who built this thing?” Time wondered aloud. “It looks _massive_.”

“Sheikah.” Link answered simply. “10,000 years ago.”

“10,000?” Time raised his brows. “... B-... are the Sheikah not still… around?”

Link gave him a confused look. ‘ _They are. But they used to be… more powerful? Or something? I dunno.’_

“Huh.” Time said. 

“What’d he say?” Wind asked.

“He said that the Shiekah are still around, but they used to be more powerful than they are now.”

“Powerful enough to build this?” Legend asked. “... I wish I could’ve met them.”

Link set the final ball in place and the door opened. He jogged through, not waiting up for the others.

“Wait!” Hyrule said, following him. Sky, Wind, and Legend did too. Everybody else eventually came through.

In the sky was a giant sphere, with many balls inside it. Link gasped and got out his Sheikah Slate, a red light emanating from it as he began to move it around.

“WHOA.” Legend gaped. “How are you doing that?”

Link had his hands full, so he attempted to answer simply. “Magnesis.”

“What’s Magnesis?” Legend asked.

“Power.” Link said.

“... Wow, _very_ informative, thanks.” Legend said sarcastically.

“Oh, you’re welcome.” Link smiled genuinely, letting a few balls fall onto the ground.

“I was being sarcastic.” Legend deadpanned.

“...” Link furrowed his brows and glanced over at him, tilting his head in confusion.

Legend just looked back at him, unsure what he was confused about. “... What?”

“Sarcastic?” Link asked, shaking a few more balls loose.

“Yes?” Legend asked back. “... Y’know, sarcasm?”

Link shook his head and put away his Sheikah Slate, moving towards the balls. Legend blinked, bewildered, and followed him.

“You don’t know what _sarcasm_ is?”

Link shook his head. Legend raised his brows. _“How?”_

Link shrugged, blushing a bit in embarrassment and turning back to rolling his ball to the correct socket.

“Okay, so, I guess I should tell you what sarcasm _is_ , uh.” Legend fumbled. “... Sarcasm’s when you say the opposite of something, like, as a joke?”

Link stopped rolling the ball, utterly confused and glanced back at him. “...?”

“Y’know, like, uh--” Legend thought. “Like if I said-- okay, these are going to be bad, but they’re just examples-- like if I said: _‘_ Time’s _so_ young, or Four’s _so_ tall.’”

Link blinked at him slowly and then turned, looking at Time and Four. “... Four is… small.”

“I know!” Legend said. “Ugh, you-- okay, whatever, you’ll figure it out, okay?”

Link nodded slowly and pushed the ball into the socket, making it light up and another door open. He went over and kicked open the chest, getting out a heavy Dual Edge blade. He found he had no space left in his inventory, however, and decided to drop it, getting out a small Rusty Halberd and chucking it across the room.

“Whoa!” Time said, ducking so it didn’t hit him. “Be careful!”

Link blushed. _‘Sorry!’_ and then picked up the Dual Edge and putting it in his Sheikah Slate.

“Was that the treasure?” Legend asked.

Wild shook his head, pointing towards the Sheikah Monk at the end of the room.

“Oh my Hylia!” Four said. “Is-- that a corpse?”

“Ew!” Sky shut his eyes.

Link frowned and walked up to the Sheikah Monk, pressing against the glowing blue box and breaking it into a thousand pieces that floated across the room. Wind tried to reach out and touch one, but his hand phased through.

There was a period of silence, where it seemed that Link was hearing the Monk speak, but they could not. Then, they saw a purple orb float out and down into Link’s chest, vanishing before the Monk disintegrated and blew away. 

They all stared in awe as Link stepped down from the pedestal, glancing at them.

“... Did he just die?” Wind asked.

Link chuckled and shrugged. _‘Been alive long enough. For 10,000 years.’_

“10,000 years?” Legend gaped. “Wow! That’s almost older than Time!”

The group cracked up, including Time who just fondly rolled his eyes. “Ah-ha. Yes…”

Link stared at Time, not getting the joke. ‘ _You’re over 10,000 years old?’_

“No, I’m not.” Time said. “But I am the oldest in the group, so they like to tease me for it.”

Link furrowed his brows, not understanding. He shrugged it off and looked at his Sheikah Slate. He smiled. 

‘ _I have four Spirit Orbs!’_

“Spirit Orbs?” Twilight furrowed his brow. “What’re those?”

_‘What the Monk just gave me.’_

“So that was the treasure?” Wind asked.

Link nodded. 

“Oh.” Legend hummed. “Well? What does it do?”

Link walked up to him, showing him his Sheikah Slate. In the corner were 22 hearts and three full bars of stamina. Sky and some others came to look at it, too.

“Heart containers?” Sky asked.

Link nodded. ‘ _Yes! Everytime I get four Spirit Orbs, I can ask the Goddess to give me a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel. I have all of the Stamina I need and I’m still getting Hearts.’_

“Ah, so you can actually see your life force?” Time asked. “That’s very useful. I wish I had that on _my_ journey…”

Link tilted his head. _‘Journey?’_

Time’s eyes went wide. “Ah, I mean… well, let’s not worry about that. Where’s the exit?”

Link pointed to the front of the shrine again. 

“Oh, back where we came.” Time said. “Alright.”

They began to head back. Twilight peeked over, walking closer to Link.

“So… this ‘Sheikah Slate’ of yours. What all can it do?”

Link brought out the slate and began to show off it’s functions. There were tabs for different objects, such as swords, shields, bows, arrows, ingredients, and meals. There was another tab, with a spirit orb graphic that showed that he had four of them. 

“So you can just keep things in there? Even whole cooked meals?” Twilight asked. Link nodded. “That’s amazing! Wow… the food even stays hot?”

Link nodded again.

“I wanna see you do the magnet thing again!” Wind said. “Please?”

Link chuckled and nodded, turning around and using his Magnesis to shake around the giant sphere in the Shrine. Wind looked up. “Cool… can I try?”

Link bit his lip, hugging the Sheikah Slate close. “...” He looked down at it, contemplating, before shaking his head. ‘ _I’m sorry. It’s too valuable to me to allow it into anyone else’s hands.’_

“Awe…” Wind frowned.

_‘I’ll show you some other stuff when we get outside, though, okay?’_

“Oh, sure!” Wind smiled. 

Slowly, all of the group exited the shrine. Twilight squinted at the sun. “Whew… sure is bright now.”

“Mhmm.” Time said. 

“Okay, now that we’re outside, can you show me the stuff on your Slate???” Wind asked.

Link smiled and obliged. Most of the afternoon was spent fucking around with stuff with the runes. Link still wouldn’t let anyone else hold his slate, but he did let Wind tell him what to do with the slate. Then, later on, they rode out and got to a stable near Central Hyrule, settling down for dinner.

Link decided to cook a stew for all 8 of them. He filled up the pot with broth, crushing in some Warm Safflina, Hyrule Herbs, and chopping up some meat to go in as well.

“Wow…” Four purred. “That smells _heavenly_.”

Link blushed and thanked him.

“Reminds me of Skyloft…” Sky murmured. “Zelda used to make soup for me when I was sick.”

The Links smiled at him, but Link himself stared at him in disbelief. 

“Z… Zelda?”

Sky paled. “Um- uh… yes. It-- uh, she’s a different Zelda than the princess, though. It’s a common name!”

Link nodded slowly and turned back to his cooking.

Wind perked up. “Y’know what? That reminds of the time Grandma and I…”

The night went on, with the group exchanging stories (with names changed to make sure they didn’t give away their true past) with each other, laughing at the funny ones and oohing at the epics. Link drank in all the stories like a child before bedtime, eyes sparkling. Finally, he was done with the stew, and poured a bowl for everyone.

“Thank you.” Four said, spurring on a chorus of thanks to Link. Link blushed and waved them off. Twilight chuckled.

“Hey, Link, you got any stories to tell?” He asked. 

Link thought for a while before nodding, beginning to sign.

 _‘I remember my friend: Mipha. When we were younger, we slayed a Lynel together, even though the Lynel had shock arrows. She was very brave… I don’t remember the whole fight, but I do remember us riding it’s back together and absolutely destroying it. After, she was so happy… her dad sure wasn’t, though.’_ He chuckled. _‘Absolutely furious.’_

The group chuckled some.

“You and her sound like a great team.” Time commented. “How old were you?”

Link thought. _‘I don’t know her age. But I was maybe 15.’_

“Fifteen!” Hyrule exclaimed. “Are you sure you’re not just pulling my leg?”

Link furrowed his brows. _‘I am not even touching you.’_

Hyrule snorted. “You know what I meant.”

Link shook his head. Hyrule blinked. “Oh. Uh-- well, uh, what I meant was: are you lying?”

Link shook his head faster. _‘No! Honest!’_

“Where’s Mipha now?” Wind asked. “Can we visit her?”

Link frowned, the light in his eyes extinguished as he looked down to the ground. He ran his thumb along his Sheikah Slate, taking a moment before responding.

_‘She died long ago. Her ghost rests near Zora’s Domain, but… I’m unsure if any of you would be able to speak to her.’_

“Oh.” Wind muttered. “... I’m sorry.”

Link didn’t respond.

Time rested a hand delicately on Link’s shoulder. Link hardly flinched, but still glanced up at Time quickly. Time gave him a reassuring smile.

“I’m no stranger to losing the ones closest to me, Link, and I’m sure your fallen friend is still watching over you now, with pride in her eyes.”

Link stared at him for a moment before smiling softly and nodding.

_‘I know. She is the one who heals me after I fall. My other friends help me, too.’_

“Other friends?” Wind perked up. “Oh, tell us about them!”

Link seemed to catch the misconception and smiled sadly. _‘They’re all also dead.’_

“Oh.” Wind bit his lip. “I thought you… um…” He trailed off.

 _‘Don’t feel bad.’_ Link signed. _‘I wouldn’t mind talking about them.’_

He told the group stories of his fallen friends: Urbosa, strong and inspiring. She was like a mother to Zelda, who he assumed had lost her own. Daruk, fun and powerful, protector of the Gorons with his prodigy left behind. Revali, someone who didn’t seem to like him, but Link still had respect for. He regretted not getting to know Revali better when he was alive.

After recounting his memories, not having many to share, Twilight gave him a pat on the back.

“Your friends sound wonderful.” He murmured. “I’m glad they’re here to protect you.”

Link nodded. _‘Me too…’_

He sighed and leaned against Twilight, craving comfort. “I… I hope they were my friends.” He muttered, finally comfortable enough to speak. “I don’t know what friendship really looks like. Or how… it feels. Or… when someone is just an ‘acquaintance’.”

He let out a sad laugh. “Not many friends to… learn from.”

Twilight frowned, looking up at the group for help. They were all mildly uncomfortable because, well, nobody in the group was really _vulnerable_ like this. They kept their secrets close to their heart, and their feelings even closer. But it seemed like Link didn’t have any reservations. It made sense: there was no actual _reason_ to have those reservations, so for someone with little social experience, why would he bother resisting?

Hyrule piped up first.

“Well, you… have us.”

Link looked back at him. 

Hyrule gave him a smile. “I can’t speak for the others, but as I said before, Link, I would love to be your friend. You’re a kind soul.”

Link’s eyes sparkled. 

“Me, too!” Wind chimed in. “I’m your friend!”

“I’ve got your back.” Twilight promised him.

“Same here.” Time said, ruffling Link’s hair. 

One by one, each of the Links promised their friendship, or at the least, their support. Link smiled wide, eyes filled with tears. He wiped them away and hugged Twilight in a big bear hug since he was the closest.

“Thank you!!!”

Twilight coughed out a laugh and pat his back. “No… problem…”

“You’re crushing him, Link.” Time said gently. Link eased his pressure, but didn’t let go. Twilight finally gave in, and hugged him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wild just needs some love bro... also sorry it's short
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	4. The Hero of the Wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group finally reveals something to Link.

The next morning, they were on the road to Lurelin again. Link seemed a lot happier to lead them now, making sure to be considerate and pull over before he hopped off his horse to get stuff. He was eager to share his finds with the group, and loved it when they took interest. Time would be lying if Link wasn’t starting to grow on him.

They were riding on a path through what appeared to be a mostly empty field. Link was too busy listening to his Sheikah Slate and looking for objects of interest to notice the groups fear as they spotted something to their right. 

In the distance was a castle, enshrouded in malice. Even from here, they could feel it’s darkness clawing at their light. 

Sky shuddered. “Should… we be worried about that?”

Twilight shrugged. “I… don’t know. Link isn’t.”

Link looked back upon hearing his name, a quizzical look on his face.

Sky pointed to the castle. “Should we be… running away from that? It’s just… sitting there.”

Link slowed down his horse a bit, and so did the rest of the group. He stared at the castle for a few contemplative moments before shaking his head. He signed to the group.

_ ‘It won’t attack us directly. It’s just protecting C-A-L-A-M-I-T-Y Ganon inside the castle. Stay away from the castle, and you’ll be fine.’ _

As Time spoke what Link was signing, his eye got wider and his face paled. It seemed mostly everyone else knew what he was concerned about.

“Ganon’s in there?” Hyrule asked. “He-he’s alive?”

Link nodded nervously. He glanced back at the castle. 

“...” 

He whined and raised his hands to sign again.

_ ‘I know… I have to be the one to kill Ganon. And that since I’m a ‘Champion’, it should be easy, but…’ _

He looked towards the castle again, only the scarred side of his face visible to the group.

_ ‘I’m scared.’ _

A chill went through the group. Time bit his lip after translating, considering what Link had just confessed. 

Link seemed to take their silence as anger and shrunk back.

_ ‘I’ll still kill him. Zelda’s in there, after all. I’m no coward.’ _

“Zelda’s in there!?” Sky burst. 

Link startled, then nodded.

“Oh my goodness…” Sky cast a glance towards the castle. “That’s…”

“Link.” Time spoke. Link met his gaze. 

“... You aren’t a coward for being nervous.” He said evenly. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it.”

Link blinked, then looked downwards, thinking about his words. He slowly nodded and smiled, signing ‘thank you’.

Time signed it back to him, and glanced to his left, feeling Twilight’s gaze on him. He could tell what he was thinking, what  _ everyone _ was probably thinking.

_ Why would Hylia choose a warrior who hadn’t yet saved their own Hyrule? _

When the portals came to fetch them, they had all already defeated Ganon and had some time to recover from their journeys. This hero… was still  _ in _ his journey. No wonder he seemed to be in such a rush, seemed to be so  _ young _ … But why would Hylia do this? Make him abandon his own world? Should he even have to?

Time didn’t know what to think, he gave Twilight a look that said ‘ _later_ ’ and turned back to the road, wanting to keep moving. But before they could get going, there was a red dot on his side.

“What the--” He looked down. 

In rapid succession, these happened:

Link cried out and dove off of his horse. A lazer fired. Time’s horse was shot and ran off, badly injured. Time himself was knocked to the ground, his left leg singed and armor hot as lava. The rest of the group got their weapons ready and their horses began to freak out. Wild stood between him and whatever was attacking, and Time finally looked up to see…

A horrifying, spider-like, machine, whose lazer was currently trained on Link’s shield. Link was growling, legs trembling, the Master Sword in hand. 

“LINK!” Time cried. He couldn’t let the new hero die, not like this, not before his quest was--

The lazer shot, and Link flung out his arm, deflecting it right back into the beast's eye. It stumbled a bit, then locked onto Link again.

“Wha…” Time stood up, stunned. Link’s eyes flicked back to him, but he never turned from the automaton. 

Just when Link was preparing another deflection, an arrow shot straight into the eye of the beast from their left. Link gasped and swore, glaring at Warriors. Warriors didn’t seem to notice, firing again and again into the beast's eye as Twilight ran towards the beast.

“STOP!!!” Link cried. “YOU’LL-- GET HURT!”

Twilight glanced back at him for a moment and seemed to be changing course, but the lazer locked onto him instead. 

It was now Time realized he was standing here like an idiot and drew his sword. The shine off of it seemed to capture the Guardians attention away from Twilight, who was hiding behind a tree, and towards Time. Time gasped and readied his shield.

Link dove in front of him with his own as the blast fired. His timing was off by just a second, but it was enough to send Link flying back with a big scorch mark in his chest.

“LINK!” Time gasped, kneeling down in front of him with his shield drawn. Link blearily opened his eyes and grunted, opening his Sheikah Slate to get out some potions.

The others grouped up on the Guardian. Sky sliced through its legs like butter with the Master Sword, Wind and Legend kept distracting it, Warriors fired into its eye, and Twilight bashed it’s hull with his weapons. 

Finally, it dropped, blue light spilling out of it’s interior before it exploded, sending a few members toppling backwards.  All it left in its wake was some nasty smelling malice and a few screws.  Time waited a few moments before sheathing his blade and putting down his shield.

“Everyone okay!?” He called out. The heroes called back positive and Time sighed in relief. He then turned to Link, who was standing now and rubbing his chest.

“You okay?” He asked. “That was a big hit…”

Link shrugged.  _ ‘Gotten hit a lot. I’m not used to fighting it in a group. Sorry.’ _

Time frowned. “... I see. Are you okay?”

Link nodded.  _ ‘I took a potion, but it still burns a little. Guardian lasers are pretty powerful.’ _

Time furrowed his brows. “That’s concerning. But, sorry, I didn’t recognize that sign…” He repeated the sign for  _ ‘Guardian’. _

_ ‘G-U-A-R-D-I-A-N’.  _ Link explained.  _ ‘The name of the enemy.’ _

“Ah, I see. So that was a ‘Guardian’.” 

“A Guardian? Not a very fitting name.” Legend said. “Guardian of Ganon, maybe.”

Link chuckled a bit and began to move back to his horse. The group followed suit and got on their own horses. Time whistled for his and it came limping back. He fed it some health elixir and then they got on their way. 

\---

They were now in between some sheer cliffs, apparently very close to Lurelin. Link and Legend advocated for continuing just a little longer, but Wind and Sky were about to pass out, so they settled in for the night by a broken down wagon. 

Link dug around in it and found an Opal, which he showed off to Warriors. Warriors liked it and Link gave it to him as a gift. Sky and Wind curled up by the fire while Four and Legend discussed what to eat. 

While the group was chatting amongst themselves, Time and Twilight were having their own little conversation off to the side.

“So.” Twilight started. “... He’s not done yet.”

“Yep.” Time said. 

“And his Zelda is still in danger.”

“Yep…” 

“And Ganon is still alive.”

“Yep……”

“... What do we do?” Twilight asked. “It- it feels wrong to have him abandon this world and save a new one. Why would Hylia do this?”

“I don’t know.” Time shrugged. “Hylia is mysterious, but…”

He bit his lip. He’d like to say  _ she knows what she’s doing _ , but he wasn’t so sure about that.

“Yeah.” Twilight sighed, understanding his predicament. “... Maybe we’re supposed to help him defeat Ganon? And then he comes with us immediately after? Though, that doesn't give him much time to heal…”

“It does not.” Time said. “But, maybe time is running out. Maybe the infection is spreading even faster and further than before, and so she won't allow the luxury of a break.”

“You think?” Twilight asked.

Time sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “I do. But I hope it isn’t true. I don’t want to fight Ganon again, none of us do, but if it’s what must be done…”

“We can’t just leave his Hyrule like this.” Twilight said. 

“I agree with you.” Time nodded. “If only Hylia had given him a little more time… had us appear later. Though, there must be a  _ reason _ for this.”

Twilight sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the cliff face. The night was cold, and the chatter at the campsite had quieted down some. 

“Should we tell him?” Twilight asked. 

Time sighed. He’d have to think a bit before answering that one. They had a better bond now, so Link wasn’t likely to just run away like Twilight had. Ganon was still alive, so they were short on time, and Time doubted Wild would allow a group of strangers defeat Ganon with him. And if time was truly running out, maybe another portal would open before they could explain it to him. 

But on the other hand: what if this is still too soon? What if he runs? What if this delays things even further?

He had to make a decision. Either risk delaying the inevitable and scaring the kid, or keep it secret until they were sure, and risk Link leaving.

“I think… we should tell him.” Time said. “But not this second, maybe after we get to Lurelin so we can relax a little.”

“Tell me what?”

Time and Twilight startled, their attention snapping to Link, who was standing just a few feet away, his arms full of mushrooms and some fruit. It seemed he was looking for ingredients and happened to overhear.

“Um.” Twilight said dumbly.

Link’s gaze hardened. 

Time’s eye caught on the others, who were staring at them. Time cleared his throat.

“Let’s talk by the fire.”

He and Twilight walked back over. Link hesitated for a moment before following and dropping his ingredients into Four’s arms. Four huffed and shoved them in his bag. 

“We did not know when to bring… it up.” Time began. “But there’s something we haven’t told you about ourselves yet, Link. Something that might be very shocking at first, but I promise, everything will be fine.”

The others seemed to catch on, eyes widening slightly. Sky scooted closer.

Link put his hand on his sword.

_ ‘I’m listening.’ _

Time eyed the sword, but didn’t comment. He had no reason to attack, so hopefully he wouldn’t.

“We are all bearers of the Triforce of Courage, just like you.” He said. “Hylia has sent all of us to different Hyrules, different  _ times _ , in order for us to band together.”

Link furrowed his brows and held up a hand.

_ ‘There are more Hyrules than just the Kingdom of Hyrule? And there’s more than just one Triforce of Courage?’ _

“No, no.” Time said. “As Ganon is reincarnated, and as Zelda is, so are we. We are all reincarnations of you, Link, in different times in Hyrule’s history.”

Link’s eyes flew wide. He shook his head. 

“You need proof?” Sky asked. He drew the Master Sword, and Link’s eyes flew wide as he drew a dagger. Sky halted for a moment, showing he meant no harm before fully showing Link the blade.

Link gasped, frozen in awe for a moment before he fumbled around and got his Master Sword out. He held up his own chipped blade to Sky’s, eyes widening.

Slowly, all the other heroes drew their blades as well. They all put them in the center of their circle, the fire's light illuminating them wonderfully.

“Wow…” Link muttered.

“We’re all ‘chosen heroes’, just like you.” Sky said. 

Link lifted up his own sword, staring at the triforce, then at his hand, which also bore that marking. He lifted up Hyrule’s hand and examined his, seeing the same symbol. A few others put their hands in as well, showing him even more proof.

Link nodded, speechless.

“You understand?” Time asked. “And you’re okay with that?”

Link thought for a bit before nodding. 

“Oh, we’re also all named Link!” Wind added. 

Link stared at him. ‘ _ I thought your names were Sky and Wind and Time and…’ _

“Those are nicknames.” Time said. “They come from what we are the  _ hero _ of. I’m the hero of Time, Four is the Hero of the Four Sword, Hyrule is the Hero of Hyrule…”

“You get the gist.” Twilight said.

Link nodded. “...” ‘ _ What am I the hero of? Am I a hero of anything?’ _

“Of course you’re a hero of something.” Time smiled. “You’re one of us.”

Sky lifted his blade and smiled. “The Master Sword tells us our titles. You want to know yours?”

Link nodded excitedly and turned towards Sky. Sky raised his sword and Link gasped, grabbing for his.

“I won’t hurt you.” Sky said. “Just tapping your shoulders. Like knighting!”

Link furrowed his brows, then his eyes widened, glazing over for a moment, before he shook his head and nodded slowly. 

Sky tapped each shoulder, shutting his eyes and focusing on the Master Sword.

“...”

He smiled.

“She says you are the ‘Hero of the Wild.’ So we would call you ‘Wild.’”

“Very fitting, if you ask me.” Legend said. Wild smiled and thanked him. 

Time chuckled. “Very.”

Wild took a moment to process, then signed another question.

_ ‘But why are you all here? Why is Hylia gathering heroes across time?’ _

“There is a great evil spreading across all Hyrules.” Time said grimly. “We know not of it’s source or how dangerous it could get, but in order to defeat it, we must all work together.”

Wild’s eyes widened. 

_ ‘C-A-L-A-M-I-T-Y Ganon?’ _

“No.” Time shook his head. “Calamity Ganon is  _ your _ Ganon that you must defeat, like  _ we _ defeated  _ our _ Ganons. This evil is different. Stronger, more powerful…”

Wild paled. 

“I know it sounds like a lot.” Time said. “However, Hylia knows what she is doing... and it is your duty as a Hero of Courage to join us and fight against that darkness. Lest all Hyrules be destroyed.”

They heard a swirling noise form behind them. They turned, and were greeted with a portal.

“Right now?” Wind frowned. “Man, we were just about to eat.”

“Well, we don’t get a say in when we go.” Time said, hauling himself up off his feet. “Come on, boys.”

Everyone got up. Wild hesitated just a second, staring into the portal.

“This is what takes us to other Hyrules.” Time explained. “I know it looks ominous, but it doesn’t hurt a bit.”

The Links came closer to the portal, but nobody stepped in yet. Wild was still staring at the portal, in awe. Warriors smiled and nudged him.

“Come on. We wouldn’t want to keep Hylia waiting, would we?”

He moved on ahead.

Time sighed. That went… better than he expected. Though, he wished that Hylia would have given them a little more time… Maybe enough to defeat Calamity Ganon. But when Hylia called them, they had to answer.

“Wild…?” Wind asked timidly. 

Time stopped just before crossing the threshold of the portal, pulling back Twilight who was almost in it as well. He looked behind them and saw Wild, backing away with wide eyes.

“Wild.” Time said, voice kind but stern. “I promise, it’ll be alright. Come with us.”

Wild shook his head quickly. 

“Link!” Warriors huffed. “Hylia is calling you! We have to go through now!”

Wild took a few more steps back, hands shaking, staring deep into the dark abyss of the portal. He glanced up at the sky, and towards the direction of the castle. He gulped and shook his head faster, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Wild--” Time reached out.

Wild turned tail and ran, taking out his Sheikah Slate. 

“WILD!” Time gasped, dashing after him. The rest of the group followed suit. They couldn’t let him escape them again, not in this big of a place--

Wild glanced back at them fearfully, and his body began to glow and change. He turned blue and broke apart, his wisps of light floating up into the night sky.

“LINK!??!?!” Wind called. 

Twilight dove for where Wild was standing, but he was too late. He fell to the ground with a hard  _ thump _ .

Just like that, he was gone.

Before Time had any time to process, Four called out from behind them.

“Guys! The portal!”

They turned, just in time to see the portal close.

They’d never ignored a portal from Hylia before.

Legend stared at the now empty spot. “... Now what?”

It seemed all eyes turned to him. Time stiffened up, trying to think of something.

“... I…”

He ran a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls leave a comment i consume them for power


	5. Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild thinks about his duty as a Hero of courage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// emeto, panic attacks,

As the blue wisps of light touched down onto the ground, they swirled and formed Wild, still running, and set him down. He tripped immediately, scrambling to catch himself on his palms as he glanced around with wide eyes. He was met with the vision of a Shrine, and the surrounding area being a small forest. He gulped, breath stilling as he let his surroundings sink in.

He was propped up on his elbows, the lush grass beneath him pricking at his skin. The sky above was dark, the barest touch of light grazing the mountain that was ahead of him. He heard birds nearby, beginning to wake, and the gentle swish of a lake, too. Unmistakably, he was safe again in nature. 

He sighed deeply and flopped down onto the ground, shutting his eyes and just taking a moment to breathe and process what the  _ hell _ just  _ happened _ .

So, the band of travellers he was with were his past lives, all Heroes of Courage, summoned to take him to another world to defeat an evil  _ greater _ than  _ Calamity Ganon. _ And apparently they wanted him to go  **_now_ ** .

The Heroes of Courage thing was weird, but he could take it. That was fine, great, even! They could help him! Summoning him to another world, though? Defeating something else? Something that was greater than _ Ganon?  _

Not great.

Wild groaned, rubbing his hands down his face. He couldn’t think right now, especially about  _ that _ . His chest kept getting tight, and suddenly his body was shaking, but it wasn’t cold out.

He sat up, rubbing his arms and shivering. Why  _ was _ he shaking? Was he hurt?

He checked himself over and looked at his Sheikah Slate to check his hearts. Nope, they were still mostly full, and he didn’t see any injuries on himself… his heat looked good, too, on the slate. So, if everything was fine… why did he feel so  _ not _ fine?

He shook his head and stood up, resolving to just push down his feelings for a second and focus on  _ anything _ else. He couldn’t think about how the travellers needed him, how Hylia needed him, and that he ran--

**_NOPE_ ** . _ Link, don’t think. Just don’t think and you’ll be okay for a while. Don’t… think… focus on something else. _

His eyes darted around, looking for anything of interest. He saw a deer, and crouched down to follow it, but after a few minutes of following the deer, his focused eyes clouded over and dipped down as he slowed to a stop.

_ “There is a great evil spreading across all Hyrules.”  _

_ “...Calamity Ganon is  _ **_your_ ** _ Ganon that you must defeat, like  _ **_we_ ** _ defeated our Ganons. This evil is different. Stronger, more powerful…” _

_ “...it is your duty as a Hero of Courage to join us and fight against that darkness. Lest all Hyrules be destroyed.” _

_ This evil is stronger, more powerful… _

_ It is your duty… _

_ Lest all Hyrules be destroyed… _

_ Lest Hyrule be destroyed… _

_ You must save her… my daughter, and do whatever it takes to annihilate Ganon.  _

_ Link, you are our final hope… the fate of Hyrule rests with you! _

_ Go, and bring peace to Hyrule. _

Link snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head violently and pounding his fists against his skull. 

_ No! No! Stop thinking! Stop thinking about it! _

His breathing quickened and he felt his legs go numb. He gasped, tears springing to his eyes as he backed away, as if he could escape himself. He choked and turned, scrambling until he came to the edge of the clearing he was in. He panted and fell to his knees, crumpling up as he felt his emotions run wild. 

He couldn’t stop thinking, he couldn't stop feeling, he couldn’t do  _ anything _ .

He looked up, hoping to find a comforting view.

He saw the castle, enshrouded in darkness and malice. Ganon swirled around it, taunting him.

He saw the King, the Champions, all fading into blue flames, begging for him to finish the job. He saw the Heroes, all successful, all great warriors, doing the same. 

The people of Hyrule needed him, the Champions needed him, Zelda needed him, and now  _ they _ needed him. The pressure was maddening. He was only seventeen, how could he do any of this? He had taken his time gathering up his resources to defeat Ganon for a reason: he didn’t want to fail again. He  _ died _ the first time, who’s to say he won’t this time? Who’s to say he’s not just a failure? An idiot? A socially-adept, scatter-brained, know-nothing who can’t fulfill his purpose? As a royal knight, he was despised and weak, as a Hero of Courage reborn, he is a coward. 

He crumpled up, tearing his eyes away from the malice. He felt hot, wet, tears run down his face, the first one’s he’s felt in a while. 

For so long he’d kept his emotions inside, not bothering to think about how he felt. There were more important things to do: Free the Champions, gather supplies, enhance his strength, explore, gather supplies, enhance his stamina, gather supplies, travel, enhance his slate, enhance his strength, enhance his stamina, enhance himself, make sure he won’t fail, make sure he doesn’t  _ fuck it up _ this time, make sure there’s no way he can lose, enhance himself until he can’t anymore, save Zelda, think about nothing and nobody more than Zelda, save Zelda, you owe her, you owe her you stupid peice of shit, how could you possibly be a hero if you can’t save Hyrule? How could you possibly be a Hero of Courage if you don’t have any? How can you call yourself worthy if you’re scared? You failure, you fuck-up, you absolute disappointment--

He puked.

He backed away violently from his mess. He’d never-- what was that??? What just happened? He’d never had food come  _ out  _ of his  _ mouth _ before. Just like he’d never felt so intensely  _ scared _ when there was nothing to be scared of before.

He whimpered and pulled at his hair, gripping at strands and biting his lip and clawing at his skull, trying to find any way possible to get out this  _ horrible energy _ that seemed to be filling him up to the brim with anxiety. 

What does he do now? He needs to save Zelda, but he’s not  _ ready  _ yet (he’d never be) and- and now he needed to go somewhere else on  _ another _ quest- he’d have to leave Zelda alone and start another year long, maybe century long, quest to kill another terrifying beast. One that was worse than Calamity Ganon, who murdered thousands, no,  _ millions _ , who probably took his family from him. Who took his  _ memories _ from him, who took his  _ life  _ from him. 

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go through with it. His sole comfort during this journey was that once Ganon was dead, it would all be over. He would return to a normal life with Zelda, able to explore the world he loved so dearly without that threat looming over him. But now, now he has no possible way out. It was battle after battle, loss after loss, Ganon after Ganon.

He looked back at the castle.

“...”

His gaze hardened, and something in him shifted.

He backed up, with trembling legs, and dove off the cliff. He unfurled his paraglider, heading towards the castle.

_ He wasn’t going to fail this time.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw Wild has ADHD i've decided. hell yeah ADHD babeyyy but also :(( because oh boy emotions going wild rn. 
> 
> (feel free to hc him as autistic too! that's fine by me if it makes u happy :) )


	6. True Courage...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comes not from the absence of fear, but action in spite of it  
> Comes from relying on others  
> Comes from realizing you can’t do this all on your own  
> Comes from us, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// uhhh sad shit bc yknow... a lot of ppl died in the calamity. also choking on smoke at one point.

“Damnit…” Twilight sighed. “I knew it was too soon… he ran, just like I did…”

“What’re we gonna do…?” Sky contemplated nervously. “It took us forever to find him, and now that he’s gone… and probably  _ avoiding us _ …”

“I don’t get it.” Warriors crossed his arms. “Why’d he run like that? I understand being nervous, but a true Hero of Courage would  _ never _ turn down a quest…. Would they?”

It seemed most of the group agreed. Legend was deep in thought about something. 

Time found this the moment he should speak up. He cleared his throat. “Well, every hero is different. Maybe he’s just… too young to fully grasp…”

“But Wind is younger than he is! And he’s doing just fine.” Warriors pointed out. Wind agreed with a nod of his head and turned to Time. “Yeah. I took on my quest and this one.”

Time bit his lip, thinking back to his own past. He was just a child then, even younger than Wind. His first journey was that of time travel and Ocarinas, one that left him feeling out of control of his life and in between age limbo. In the end, it worked out, yes, but the nightmares he received those years after haunted him even today. Though, not as much as his  _ second _ quest did with Majora... that was truly dizzying.  He tried to consider Link’s perspective on this. He has been given a quest: To defeat a massive evil by the name of Calamity Ganon and save Zelda. He’s alone, presumably, because all of his friends have died.  _ Now, at the near end of his quest, he meets a group of strangers that are to take him to another world, to defeat something else… _

Time sighed deeply. Of course, how did he not think of this sooner? 

_ Which would mean leaving his quest unfinished, and Zelda trapped… _

“What’re you thinking of?” Twilight asked. Time looked down at him and then up at the rest of the group, who had their eyes on him.

“I think I know why he left, and what we have to do now.”

Their attention perked. Time continued.

“Unlike all of us, Link is still in his journey to save his Hyrule. He hasn’t yet defeated Ganon, or saved his Zelda. Asking him to go with us, to  _ abandon _ his quest… of  _ course _ he ran away! He may not be the youngest of us, but he’s still young. The amount of pressure that this must have put on him made him panic. Now what we have to do is find him, explain to him that we’re not going to let him abandon his quest, and hopefully… help him. Or at the least keep him with us. Does everyone understand?”

The group nodded. Warriors bit his lip and looked away, feeling slightly guilty now that he put himself in Link’s shoes. Legend sighed. Wind looked disheartened, and Hyrule gently twirled the flower Wild gave him between his fingers. 

“Where do we start?” Warriors finally asked, straightening his posture.

Time put his hand to his chin. “Hmm…”

“Maybe the castle?” Four suggested. “I mean, if he thinks he has to go somewhere else… then wouldn’t he want to save his Zelda before he did?”

Time hoped not, but it wasn’t that far of a stretch. 

“Alright.” Time said. “We head to the castle after dinner.”

\---

Time gripped his horse’s reins tightly, steering it away from a nearby Guardian Stalker. He did  _ not _ want to deal with those freaks again. The rest of the group followed his lead, sticking together in a herd as they headed for the front of the castle. They passed a stone circle, ruins of a farm that seemed vaguely familiar to Time, and eventually came upon the gates. 

Time gulped, hopping off his horse and drawing his sword. They were stocked up enough, he was sure, but just in case he patted down his bag again. Yep, everything there…

He looked behind him, mentally counting everyone as well. 

“Are we all ready?” He asked the group.

“Aye, aye.” Wind responded half-heartedly.

“Let’s get in and get out, this place gives me the creeps.” Legend complained uneasily, rubbing his arm. 

Time nodded curtly and headed inside, his friends behind him.

He wasn’t prepared for the sight he was greeted with, however. 

They had seen it from afar before: Hyrule Castle devastated absolutely by the terror that was "Calamity Ganon", but to see it up close was another experience entirely. The encroaching rays of sunlight did not enter here, as scarlet and deep purple painted the sky. Ashes fell like snow and blackened every surface, digging into the many cracks of what used to be buildings. Those buildings, which Time knew so well from his own life, were nothing more than a few planks scattered around the barren wasteland, rotten and burnt up. Once bustling with life, all that lived here today were reincarnated monsters and the very machines that brought upon this death. 

Time was frozen solid, his eyes watering at the smokey air and his throat suffering the same. He got flashbacks to where things used to be, children who used to run around the town, their ancestors dead and gone before their time. He was shaking slightly, and his grip hardened on his sword. He caught a glimpse of a Guardian eye looking his way--

He was grabbed around the wrist suddenly and yanked to the side. He snapped out of his daze and looked around, finding that he was now hiding behind some… structure. It was too broken to know what it once was. He looked over at whoever pulled him down. Twilight met his gaze and held a finger to his lips. Time could hear mechanical whirring close by. _Ah, so it was a Guardian…_

“Are you okay?” Wind whispered to Time. Time nodded, even if he felt otherwise. Is this what Hyrule was doomed to become? Even in the failed timeline where Ganon won, it wasn’t as horrific as this. It seemed Twilight shared the same thoughts, as he began to space out, a far away look in his eyes when he saw a broken picture frame in front of them, the picture inside rained on, stomped on, stormed on, too much to even see a face. 

Four had something dawn on him.

“Wait, wait…”

He peeked over the structure, looking up at the castle. He glanced around at the towns ruins and gasped, ducking down again.

“Is- was this once…” He looked up in horror at Time. “The Town of Hyrule?”

Time nodded grimly. “I believe… so…” He cleared his throat, trying not to choke up. “We don’t have time to get emotional right now, though. We need to find Link and get out of this cursed place…”

The others nodded, all slightly put off now that Four had verbalized what this place once could have been. 

They ran out from cover to cover, searching around for Link for nearly 30 minutes before they heard a resounding  _ clang _ from the west side of the castle. Twilight perked up and looked towards the direction of the sound, sniffing the air and squinting. 

“What is it?” Warriors asked.

“That Guardian's activated.” Twilight said. “I think…”

They heard a loud shout come from that way, and saw a familiar figure go underneath the Guardian, slicing at it’s legs and body. 

“Link!” Twilight gasped, nearly jumping over their cover. Warriors pulled him back with a chuckle. “Easy, easy, we don’t want to draw more Guardians his way. Come on, we’ll sneak over. This way.”

Warriors led, ducking and weaving between structures and under overhangs. Time kept his eye on Link, as did some others. 

Link defeated the Guardian, huffing as he collected the screws and put them in his slate. His eyes were determined and cold, his teeth bared, and his armour was unlike any Time had seen before. It was sleek and dark, with glowing orange and blue lights on it. It looked as if it was made from the same material as the Guardians around him. On his head was an elegant diamond circlet. 

He moved with purpose, boots stomping towards his goal not unlike a professional knight’s. He carried the Master Sword in his right hand, and a familiar Hylian Shield in his left. It seemed Twilight and Sky recognized the Shield, too. How in Hyrule did that thing survive all these years?

They approached him as he was slinking his way around the side of the castle, backing up and preparing to apparently  _ climb _ the wall. 

“Wild!” Wind called out. Warriors shushed him aggressively, but it was too late. Wild startled and gasped loudly, drawing his shield and sword and glaring at the group with wide, frightened, eyes. It seemed his fear only extended towards other people. 

“Wild, I’m so glad we found you!” Wind smiled. Warriors facepalmed. Wind ran out from their hiding spot to come up and hug Wild. Wild snarled and kicked him back, pointing his blade down at him. 

“Hey!” Warriors barked, standing between Wind and Wild. “What gives?”

Wild backed away further, white-knuckling his weaponry and getting into a fighting stance.

Hyrule furrowed his brows, trying to come out, but Time held him back. He didn’t think more people would help the situation. 

“Wild?” Wind asked, getting up. “Why’d you attack me?”

Wild just snarled in response, unable to use his hands to sign or voice to speak. 

Warriors hummed and took a few steps back, ushering Wind back to the group before trying to approach Wild again. 

“Listen, all we want to do is talk, okay? I think there might have been a misunderstanding back at the campfire…”

Wild made a shooing motion, trying to side step around Warriors to get to the wall. Warriors huffed and blocked his path. 

“Link, please. We just need to have a talk. I promise, once this misunderstanding is handled, things will become a lot clearer.”

Wild shook his head. Warriors kept his composure.

“Why don’t you want to talk with us?”

Wild didn’t respond.

Time hummed, leaving their spot and approaching the two. Wild’s eyes widened and he took another step back, brandishing his sword at him. He put his hands up, indicating he meant no harm.

“I understand why you might not want to see us right now.” Time said, as calmly as he could. “But we came here for a reason. At the campfire, we unloaded a lot of information onto you, and for that I’m sorry. I was planning on telling you later, but considering you asked, I thought that maybe it would be alright to tell you sooner.”

He sighed.

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be willing to abandon your world for ours, leaving your Zelda behind as well.”

Wild’s glare softened just a bit, his grip easing. Warriors glanced between the two and cleared his throat. 

“We aren’t going to force you to come with us right this second, Link.” He said. “We’ll wait for you to defeat Ganon and save your Zelda as long as we can. But please understand, we don’t control when Hylia needs us. When she wants us to go, we must go.”

Wild frowned and shook his head. 

Warriors sighed, giving him a pitying look. “I’m sorry, that’s just the way things are. You must come with us at some point, but it doesn’t have to be now.”

“That’s all we came here to say.” Time added on. “I hope this eases your… suspicions of us.” He eyed Wild’s weapons.

Wild glanced down at his weapons and sighed, slowly sheathing his sword. He kept one hand on it when he wasn’t signing, ready to strike again. 

_ I don’t want to go with you. Not now, not ever. I want to save Zelda, and live the rest of my life with her and explore Hyrule. If there are many reincarnations of us, why doesn’t Hylia choose another? _

Sky frowned and got up upon hearing the translation. “Link, you can’t just refuse a request from Hylia herself. It’s very disrespectful.”

Wild shrunk back at first, looking away, before his brows pinched together and he stood up straighter, signing with purpose.

_ I remembered something on the way over here. Zelda proposed something to me… she asked me what if… what if one day I realized I wasn’t meant to be a fighter? But everyone around me said I should be one... She wondered, if there was another way, would I have chosen that path? Instead of this one? _

He sighed out deeply, clenching his fists before continuing.

_ I think I would have. I never chose to be a hero, and I don’t want to be one, still.  _

The heroes stared at him, a few finding his words offensive, and a few resonating with them just a bit. 

Warriors found it offensive and opened his mouth to object, to tell him that rejecting his role was a disgrace to Hylia’s judgement. Time spoke before he could.

“I understand what you mean.”

“What!?” Warriors and Sky shouted. 

Time gave them hard looks, watching them shrink back at his gaze. He walked up to Wild, ever so gently placing his hand on his shoulder. Wild did not flinch.

“I didn’t want to be a Hero either, when I began my journey.”

Wild’s eyes widened.  _ You didn’t _ ?

Time shook his head. “No, I--”

From above them, a Flying Guardian’s light shone. Time drew his sword, heart picking up it’s rate. Before it could fire, it was bound in yellow, glowing chains. Time squinted at the chains and felt himself being tugged away by Wild. The group followed the two of them around the side of the castle. 

Wild found refuge in a bombed crevice in the castle’s walls, sitting them down and shushing them as he watched the Flying Guardian. It came back to life and looked around for the heroes, finding none and simply moving on. Wild sighed deeply and sat down, before tensing up and staring at all the heroes who were  _ very _ close now.

“Thank you.” Time said, patting his shoulder to put him at ease. “I think this is a much safer place to continue, isn’t it?”

Wild nodded slowly. 

Time looked back at the group, silently asking for their privacy. A few eyes turned away while a few nodded for confirmation. Time moved a bit farther from the group, closer to the moat with Wild so they could talk only to each other for a while. Though Time doubted that the group wouldn’t be eavesdropping just a bit. 

“When I started my journey, I was only 10 years old.” He began. “One day I was living my life a normal in Kokiri Forest. My only worries were if my friends liked me, or what I would eat the next day. Then, suddenly, my guardian died and I was on my way to Hyrule Castle to learn of my purpos e.. It was frightening at first, and a lot of pressure. At the time, I didn’t want to be a hero. I wanted to go back home, rest my aching feet, have a nightmare-less sleep… but Hylia was not so kind as to give me one.”

“I defeated Ganon, only a child, and rescued Zelda. Then things went back to normal… until they didn’t. Another evil rose in the world when I was 11. I’ll… spare you all of the details, but at that moment, when my world was collapsing… all I could think to myself was:  _ Really? Again? Ugh. _ ”   


He chuckled lightly, having a bitter tone to the end of it. Wild frowned, resting his hand on top of Time’s to comfort him. Time held his hand in return with his free one. 

“I saved my Hyrule again, but this time I was thinking more deeply about what I wanted. Often, I would curse Hylia for burdening me with the Triforce of Courage. I thought to myself sometimes that I would be better off dead than fighting for every second of my miserable life. And that only worsened when I considered the possibility of a third journey.”

He sighed and squeezed Wild’s hand.

“I can see so much of myself in you, Link-  _ Wild-  _ Whatever you wish to be called… and as someone who’s been there befor e… I just wish I knew what to say to make it all alright. I wish I could send you home, make sure you’re safe, and take all of this away from you. But I can’t. It’s as Warriors and Sky said: you can’t refuse an order from the Goddess.”

Wild frowned.

“However…” 

Wild looked up at him quizzically.

“We can offer you something that I did not have much of on my journey: Help.”

Wild’s eyes widened, and he shook his head.

_ No, no, you don’t have to fight Ganon for-- _

“I never said that.” Time interrupted. “We won’t fight Ganon for you. That is a fight you must face alone. But  _ getting _ to Ganon… perhaps we can help in some ways there.”

Wild bit his lip.

_ Isn’t that… isn’t that cheating? _

Time chuckled. “Your goal is to save Zelda, yes? Who ever said you had to do it alone?”

_ You did it alone _ .

“I did not.” Time said. “I had my fairy, Navi, with me, and Zelda, too. Sky had the spirit of the Master Sword, Twilight had a companion named Midna, Wind had a talking sailboat… We have all had companions on our journeys, and people to cheer us on the way.”

Wild’s eyes teared up slightly, and he looked away, pain etched on his face. Time frowned in concern and rubbed his back.

“Did I upset you?”

Wild shook his head, raising his hands.

_ No… it’s just… I never had any friends. _

Time furrowed his brows. “But what about Mipha? Urbosa? Daruk? Revali?”

_ They’re not here to guide me. Or journey with me. _ He responded, looking up at Time with sorrowful, lonely, eyes.  _ They help me, yes… Urbosa grants me the power to control lightning, Revali can make me fly, Daruk protects me, and Mipha revives me… but I can’t speak to them. They can’t speak to me. I’m alone. I’ve always been alone in my second life… _

_ Revives? _ Time thought. Might be best to get into that later, but if what he said was true, that was a useful power to have… 

“‘Your second life’?” He asked. He couldn’t leave that one alone.

Wild ducked his head down shamefully. Time waited patiently until he signed again. 

_ I died 100 years ago. Protecting Hyrule. _

Time’s eye widened. **_What???_**

_ I failed.  _ He continued, a few tears falling down his cheeks.  _ I failed everyone. They were counting on me, 100 years ago, to be their Hero. But I… I failed. My friends were trapped inside of great machines, tortured for 100 years, and Zelda, too… she’s been trapped inside that castle for 100 years, fighting against Ganon everyday...  _

He sobbed, curling in on himself and wiping his eyes. His signing got sloppy.

_ I woke up, no memories, and I knew nothing of the world. Soon after, I’m told I have to save the whole world and rescue Zelda because of  _ **_my_ ** _ mistake. I spent **more than** _ **_a year_ ** _ gathering supplies, fighting the Divine Beasts, travelling the world…  _

He looked down shamefully again, sobbing harder. Time held him closer.

_ And I hate to admit it, but I was stalling. Zelda’s trapped in there, barely alive, and what have I been fucking doing? Taking pictures of rabbits and having fun in the world. Not only did I doom her to an existence of misery while I took a damn nap, now I’m just fucking around! Doing nothing!  _

_ I’m no Hero. _

_ I’m a failure. _

He unsheathed the Master Sword and took it in his hands, tracing the Triforce engraved on it while his tears stained the blade. 

_ I don’t deserve this. _

He lifted it up, glancing to the moat below. Time acted quick and grabbed it before he could toss it away.

“Hey, now.” He said, putting the sword back in Wild’s hands. “Don't… don’t cry…”

He lifted up Wild’s chin, fully seeing his splotchy, tear-stained, face. Dear Hylia, how he saw himself in those eyes…

He wiped away his tears and held him close, rubbing his back and murmuring to him.

“You are not a failure, Link. I… I know something about failure, about… not saving Hyrule… and trust me, I- I know how much it can hurt.” He cupped his cheek. “But as long as you do your job by the end of the day… you’ve succeeded.”

Wild sniffled, looking away. It was clear he didn’t believe his words.

Time sighed.

“...”

“You know… it’s quite admirable.”

Wild furrowed his brows, looking up at him.  _ What is? _

“That you’ve been working so hard, every day for her.” Time smiled. Wild’s eyes widened and he shook his head. Time stopped him, and nodded. “Yes. Every single day, you’ve been gathering knowledge and supplies for her… I’m certain you weren’t just handed that armour, that sword, that shield… were you?”

Wild looked down at his armor, at his sword, at his shield. He shook his head slowly.

“Exactly.” Time said. “You worked for those, so one day you could come up here, and save her with everything you’ve got, right?”

Wild nodded.  _ I don’t want to fail. _

“And you haven’t. Not this time.” Time said. “What about those Shrines? You… were collecting them, right? To increase your Health and Stamina? And what was that for?”

_ To… to protect Zelda. To keep myself alive… to defeat Ganon?  _ Wild signed, looking up at Time with a shine in his eyes.

“Exactly!” Time confirmed, grinning. “You were traveling, and in traveling, you discovered so many ways to help! You weren’t fooling around, you were making progress! And, well, who can blame you if you just want to take a break and smell the flowers, hm? They’re very pretty ones.”

Wild chuckled, wiping his eyes and nodding.  _ I… I guess so. _

“So, you see?” Time wiped his cheeks. “You’re no failure. You’re a Hero, just one who took his time. And, if I’m honest… you’re one of the bravest young men I’ve met.”

Wild smiled sheepishly and waved him off.

“I’m being serious.” Time said. “I know I wasn’t as courageous as you when I was your age. You’re doing just fine, okay?”

He looked up at him, then, a wonderfully grateful shine in his eyes as he hugged Time, burying his face into the crook of his neck. Time smiled and hugged him back, squeezing extra hard to make sure Wild knew he loved him. 

He stole a quick glance at the group. They were all watching them intently, some with soft smiles on their faces and others in awe. Most turned away, embarrassed at being caught, when TIme looked. Time chuckled and turned back to Wild, patting his head.

“Now, Link, let me ask you this: are you 100% ready to take on Ganon? There are no wrong answers.”

Wild pulled back and wiped his eyes. He thought for a few moments, then shook his head.

_ Not right now. I think… I think I’m going to go to a shop, and stock up on food and weapons before I head back. It won’t take long, I promise. _

“Always prepared, Link” Time complimented. “Then I suppose we should get out of here?”

Wild nodded, thinking just a second before he quickly signed:

_ Actually… can you call me Wild? I like the name. _

Time smiled softly.

“Of course, Wild.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment I consume them for power. also ty for reading hope u liked!

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos and a comment if you want more of this!


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